The only big manufacturer that can compete with S660 is the Panasonic P11, which loses out on battery.

The Rs 10,000-15,000 range is the most stacked up one in the Indian market. Both Indian and international brands have maximum number of models in this price bracket. Priced at Rs 11,900 (Flipkart) the Lenovo instantly grabs our attention. The Chinese brand is slowly establishing itself in the mobile phone arena. The S660 is a serious contender in this range. Here is a dissection.

Design: The phone has a 4.7 inch screen and the back has a brushed metal finish giving it a premium feel but I must say removing the back cover will leave you with chipped nails. The smooth edges make it a little precarious to grip, but the device comes with a “Magic Cover” which makes the grip more secure. The mic is smartly placed at the bottom of the top bezel panel. The general appearance and build of the phone is pretty impressive.

Display: When you have a 4.7 inch screen you expect a robust resolution, but the S660 doesn’t have one. it comes with a meagre 960 x 540 qHD display which honestly is like trying to run a Ford Mustang on kerosene. The screen is extremely smudgy and definitely needs you to put on a screen guard which would mean making the touch a wee but less responsive. The viewing angles are quite good though the color tone could be a little more vivid.

Performance: The S660 comes with a 1.2 GHz quad core processor yoked with 1gb Ram which does a fair amount of justice to the phone. The android lag has reduced quite a bit but the phone does come to split second freeze frame while toggling between a few heavy apps. The performance of the S660 is satisfactory at the best.

Camera: The S660’s 8MP rear camera is better than many in the league. The new multi angle photo mode allows you to take half panorama shots. The stock filters and shooting modes enable us to click some decent photos. The camera is certainly not the best for phones in this price range. The Video capture is up to mark but the 0.3 MP front camera is a bit putting off and reminds us of 90’s webcam quality photos.

Storage: The phone comes with a 8 GB internal memory of which close to 6 GB is available for the user. The expandable memory upto 32 GB ensures that all there is enough room for all your games, apps and pictures.

Software: The Lenovo interface leaves much to be desired, though there is no cluttering of icons on the home screen the device comes pre-installed with UCBrowser, Evernote and and the basic set of Lenovo’s PC manager apps. There is an update available for the stock 4.2.2 version of Jelly Bean.

Battery: Lenovo has packed this model with a massive 3000 mAh user replaceable battery and can easily last a day even with heavy usage. The battery makes a strong case for anyone to consider this phone.

Verdict: The Lenovo S660 is a well built phone and offers a lot for its Rs 11,900 price tag. Though the stock UI isn’t all that great installing a launcher will have you sorted. The FM radio, a pretty modest camera and a sturdy build make this one of the best phones in its range, only competitors being Micromax and other Indian manufacturers. The only international manufacturer that can compete with the S660 is the Panasonic P11, which loses out on battery. This is a phone that offers a lot for its modest price tag.